CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Toledo Xignex Trojans clinched the top spot of the southern division team standings in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) Wesley So Cup after it won two victories Wednesday evening, October 4, 2023.
The Trojans defeated the Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates and staged a huge upset against the former PCAP champions, the Iloilo Kisela Knights.
Leading the Trojans’ charge were Cebuano Grand Master (GM) Richard Bitoon and Women’s FIDE Masters (WFM) Cherry Ann Mejia, in beating the Fianchetto Checkmates and the Kisela Knights.
In their first match, the Trojans eked out a hard-fought victory against the Kisela knights, 11-10.
In the blitz round, Toledo narrowly edged the Iloilo, 4-3, behind GM Bitoon and WFM Mejia’s win over Mark Jossel Mariano and Fiona Geweeneth Guirhem, respectively. Also joining them in winning the blitz round was International Master (IM) Rico Mascariñas who beat National Master (NM) Cesari Mariano.
Both teams went on sealing the rapid round with a 7-7 draw.
GM Bitoon won over NM Rolando Andador, WFM Mejia edged Guirhem for the second time, and Allan Pason defeated Horizon Villanueva.
In their second match, they defeated the Fianchetto Checkmates, 12.5-8.5 by winning both the blitz and rapid rounds.
In the blitz round, the Trojans won 4.5-2.5 over Surigao with GM Bitoon and WFM Mejia winning their matches. GM Bitoon defeated John Ranel Morazo, while WFM Mejia beat Mariel Romero.
Pason also joined them on the winning side by defeating Rhenz Auza. IM Kim Steven Yap completed their dominant run in the blitz round with a win over Johnny Wellem Carzano.
The Trojans went on finishing the rapid round with an 8-6 win with Bitoon and IM Yap winning their matches over Morazo and Carzano, respectively, despite having four draws.
Two back-to-back wins over Surigao and Iloilo put Toledo on top with an unbeaten 4-0 (win-loss) record and 56 accumulated points.
Cebu City is in second with a 4-1 record, followed by Iloilo with a 3-1 slate.
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